surprise weekend in laguna!

here’s a rare trip that required no planning on my part…!! 

last week i was told by chase that we were headed on a
little getaway to kick off my birthday week.
first reaction, yay! second reaction, one million questions from me.

i think surprises are fun but i also am not very good at getting surprised,
because i’m too curious and used to planning everything out! (AKA, control freak)
…but i was excited to roll with it, and we hopped in the car and headed south.
we made our way down the coast and got into LA. chase drove me around some
of our favorite spots and it quickly became clear that he was just killing time
— so i was confused and anxious at every second about where we were going!
he was being a stickler and not giving me one hint about our plans…just walking
in and out of shops with me, taking me to get froyo, and making me crazy not
knowing what was happening. finally we got in the car and before i knew it we
were at the airport and i saw two of our best friends standing there with signs!!!

our friends brynn & trent had been in on everything with chase and flew in from
salt lake to meet us for the weekend. WHAT?!?!!!!! i felt like i was in a dream, it was
so late and i was so baffled! “how and when did you guys plan this??” and so many other
questions came out of my mouth but mostly i was just so so excited and smiling a mile wide.
the best kinds of surprises are adventures and favorite people, so chase had already nailed
it before the trip started. we made our way down to laguna beach (my happy place that
i’ve been almost every year of my life…) and that sealed the deal. lucky girl.

the fun airport surprise kicked off a weekend full of catching up, eating lots,
hot tubbing, game playing, beaching, paddleboarding (that’s a good story)
and being together in a favorite place. i couldn’t ask for much better!

^^ this boy is great and planning relaxing trips. he told me i didn’t get to plan and
schedule things. this was to be a true “vacation” with no hurries, no worries.

^^ cronuts & bougainvillea = two happy things ^^

acai bowls … another happy thing ^^

views from our fun hotel! (more to come on it later)

^^ beach feet

laguna lovin’!

hotel pool view … i love those classy white umbrellas.

paddleboard adventure —- let’s just say the winds & tides were a little crazy
when we decided to take these out, so it kicked our butts and we didn’t last long.

but it was nothing a little deep dish bbq chicken pizza on the beach can’t fix..

^^ this classic laguna view is so full of nostalgia for me. being back somewhere so familiar
this year was great, but it did make my heart ache to have my parents back in the states
and able to be with us in favorite places! we stayed up on this side which we’ve never done.

always so fun to travel with friends. brynn was my VERY first friend as babies and
continues to this day. we always dreamed of traveling with our future husbands
one day and love that now we get to! nothing better than lifelong friendship!

 ^^^^ AMEN, AMEN. ^^^^

(see the photo above this one :)

we hit so many favorite food spots in just a few days..classics like crab cooker,
but also some new ones that i’m excited to share!
i’ll be updating our laguna and newport guide soon :)

those newport skies on the boardwalk at night… >>>

one afternoon it rained, so we all got pedicures. chase was so excited
until the clipping part! haha — most entertaining thing we’ve ever seen.
this sequence of pictures is my favorite. excitement –> to torture –> to bliss.

brynn’s birthday was a few weeks ago so since we’re april babies turning 25
we celebrated all weekend long! one night the restaurant brought out desserts
and candles for both of us, and i had to document our cute husbands documenting
us blowing the candles out! ha :) we picked pretty good guys ^^^

^^ nights on the lit up rooftop patio complete
with long games of jokers & midnight orders of fries

also:: late night hot tubbing under the strung lights wasn’t so bad …

  after one last dip in the pool we had to drop brynn & trent at LAX :(

  but we did cheer ourselves up with our FAVORITE
cafe rio before heading back up the coast. ^^

thank you to my husband and these sweet fowler friends for pulling
off such a fun surprise and memory. i feel silly that my birthday hasn’t
even happened yet and i’ve already had the best celebration possible, a fun
experience with people i love. i can’t get over it —– thank you chase t. for
making each year better! i don’t think i’ll ever be sad to turn a year older
with the way he helps me celebrate life & love each year more. cheers!

xo